A Blog of Members of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice Section of the American Bar Association

Monday, January 5, 2015

Profile on William Jay: Rising Star in Appellate Advocacy

William Jay, a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP, was recently a featured
speaker in the Section’s Supreme Court Series Teleconference entitled Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association: The
Supreme Court Considers the Limits on Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking
Requirements.Notice and Comment had the opportunity to
sit down with the Law360 2014 Rising Star and hear about his
diverse career and advice for aspiring administrative lawyers.

Growing up on a horse and
cattle farm, Jay did not always plan to pursue a legal career.He became interested in the law while
attending Harvard College, where he had the opportunity to intern for a local
member of Congress and the Chief Counsel of the Senate Republican Policy
Committee.His experience working for
the committee ultimately led him to apply to Harvard Law School.

Jay began his legal
career as a law clerk for Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.It was an
invaluable experience in light of the variety of cases that clerks can work on,
ranging from criminal matters to contract interpretation.“I would recommend clerking to anyone who is
interested in litigation because it gives you a perspective on how judges think
and review legal issues,” he noted. Jay also had the opportunity to serve as a
law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, an experience he described
as unlike any other job a young lawyer can have.Although the Justices do a lot of their own
work, it was an amazing opportunity just to be a “fly on the wall,” and an experience
that would greatly inform his appellate litigation practice.

After clerking for
Justice Scalia, Jay returned to the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP where he worked for a total of four years.While at Gibson Dunn, he was a litigation
associate with the firm’s Appellate and Constitutional Law practice group.He also worked on administrative law matters,
ranging from an APA challenge to a Transportation Department rulemaking to advising
clients on compliance with campaign finance regulations.The firm is known for its high profile
appellate practice, but Jay was drawn to the opportunity to work with great
people and mentors.

Even though he was very
happy at Gibson Dunn, Jay’s career took another interesting turn when the Office of the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice posted several vacancies
in 2007.The Solicitor General’s office
represents federal agencies before the Supreme Court and also supervises the
government’s appellate litigation and defense of federal statutes.This was only the second time in the previous
three years the office was hiring, so Jay felt he would regret not pursuing
such a rare opportunity.To his surprise
he was hired to serve as an Assistant to the Solicitor General. In his nearly
five years in the Solicitor General’s office, he argued 11 Supreme Court cases,
wrote 20 Supreme Court merits briefs, worked on approximately 150 briefs in
opposition to certiorari, argued cases in Courts of Appeals, and participated
in other aspects of litigation.

Jay’s variety of
experience greatly informs his current role as Co-Chair of Goodwin Procter’s
Appellate Litigation group.He represents
clients in Supreme Court cases like Perez
v. Mortgage Bankers Association (in which he co-authored a brieffor the National Mining
Association); briefs and argues cases in appellate courts around the country; and handles a number of trial court matters,
including administrative law cases for both plaintiffs and
defendant-intervenors.Jay noted that he
enjoys working on a mix of appellate and trial-court cases, and that it is
important to understand how trial courts operate when handling appellate
matters.Gaining that understanding is difficult
to do if you haven’t experienced motion practice.

Jay recommended aspiring
administrative lawyers consider diversifying their careers.In the rulemaking context, he said, “whether
you are writing rules for an agency or comments for a client, it’s important to
fully understand the opposing side’s perspective.”In order for an attorney to draft useful
comments on an agency proposal, he stated, it helps to experience what it’s
like for agency staff to read comments and write rules.He also noted that it helps to know how
businesses think if you are drafting regulations for an agency.He offered a word of caution, however, noting
that even recognized experts in a field cannot anticipate every possible
scenario during a rulemaking, so even seemingly clear rules will end up needing
interpretation as they are applied to unanticipated facts.What clients need most in that situation is
not just experts in the subject matter, but counsel with good judgment.